Stock Market vs Social Media Marketing- Similar Games

In many ways, the social media world (and marketing in general), are similar to the stock market.  It’s a competition, or as some like to look at it, a game.  Both can be cut throat, and there are different strategies that can be used.  In both cases, there are winners and losers.

With the stock market, investors have a set amount of money that they deploy across investments – looking for the best ROI.   Some investors invest in traditional, safe stocks that earn average returns.  Others go out on a limb and go after the home-runs.  This may involve investing in new emerging markets or different products that others haven’t.

When it comes to marketing, there are also numerous approaches.  A business has a set marketing budget and must allocate that across different tactics.  Some businesses go with tried and tested approaches such as banner ads or radio commercials.  Others are quick to take a risk by throwing advertising money at newer opportunities such as Twitter Ads.

Typically in the stock market, if you do what others are doing, you will only earn an average return.  It’s only those that have an edge, inside information, great vision, or a new tactic that hasn’t yet been exploited by everyone else that will earn an above average return.

The similar holds true in social media.

The Growing Competition For Views & Visits

When looking at social media and content marketing  – businesses are really competing with each other for “views”, “impressions”, or “interactions”.  Each of these requires a consumer to take time out of their day.  Since consumers only have a limited amount of time each day, there is really a set number on the maximum number of Facebook posts they will read or blogs they will visit in a given day.

This means that as more and more businesses get on the social media bandwagon and try interacting with consumers, the harder it becomes for each business to get their content out in front of the public since it’s becoming flooded.  Facebook Ads and Google Ads certainly realize this, hence why there is a bidding system to purchase their advertising space.

So what does all this mean?  Where are we going with this?  Simply that just like the stock market, if you do what everyone else does, expect average ROI.  If you are looking at significantly increasing sales through marketing and advertising without significantly increasing your marketing & advertising budget/spending – you must get creative and try new, innovative marketing tactics.

Whether that means hiring a new content writer that thinks out-of-the-box, employing an all star graphic designer that puts your website above your competition, or trying the newest social media tools that others haven’t – something new must be done to truly rise above the rest.